Baltimore
Books Through Bars
Our Mission
We are a volunteer organization that sends free books to incarcerated individuals throughout Maryland. Our goal is to alleviate the dehumanizing and isolating effects of incarceration and offer our readers a sense of belonging within a compassionate and supportive community.
Our Process
1. We receive book requests by mail from incarcerated individuals throughout Maryland.
2. We find the book(s) that best match their request in our library.
3. We package and send the book(s) to the individual, in accordance with their facility's rules and restrictions.
4. The books are theirs to keep or share!
Our Partners
We are proudly affiliated with Urban Reads Bookstore, a longstanding provider of books to incarcerated readers.Our project is currently housed at The Maryland Book Bank, free of charge, which allows 100% of our donations to go toward postage and packing materials.
Get involved!
We always need the 3Bs:
books, bills, and bodies.
You can help our mission by donating books, donating money to cover postage, or volunteering to process letters and fulfill requests.
Book Donation Guidelines
Books can be dropped off anytime on the south covered loading dock at 1794 Union Ave Baltimore, MD 21211. Look for the Maryland Book Bank sign!Please label your bag/box with "Books Through Bars."
Please note:
Books must be paperback & in good or new condition. No highlighting, underlining, margin notes, stains, or spiral-bound books. Thank you for helping us reduce package rejections!
Most needed
- Activities such as adult coloring books, puzzles, wordfind, crossword, tabletop RPG guides
-Astrology and tarot
-Conspiracies, UFOs, aliens
-Comics, manga, graphic novels
-Dictionaries and thesauruses
-Genre fiction: true crime, thriller, horror, urban, romance, fantasy, sci-fi
-How-To (drawing, origami, chess, knitting)
-Legal dictionaries
-Spanish language, bilingual dictionaries
-Trade, business, personal finance
-Wicca, paganism, occult
-Bodyweight workouts and yoga guides
Request a book
Books requests can be mailed to:
Baltimore Books Through Bars
1794 Union Ave | Baltimore, MD 21211Please include:
- Full name
- SID
- Type(s) of book requested
- Known facility restrictions (e.g., requires invoice, no more than 3 books)To request a book on behalf of an incarcerated individual, please email the above information to [email protected].Note: Because all our books are donated, we can't guarantee any specific titles, but we'll do our best to find a good match!
Volunteer with us
Check back soon for information about volunteer shifts!
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